Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
 |
| 1988 One Dollar Silver Stardust Hotel and Casino Chip Beach Find |
Chips are worth cash at the casino, but some are worth more as collectibles. Each casino has its own unique chips. Collectors of gambling tokens specialize in chips used by particular casinos, or look for chips of a particular denomination. The more legendary the casino, the more valuable the chip, especially if the casino has closed. In the 1950s and ’60s, most chips were made from “clay” that was really a ceramic composite. The printed graphic on the center of a chip is called an “inlay.” It includes the chip’s value, the casino’s name and sometimes an image or logo that can also increase a chip’s value. The Casino Chips & Gaming Tokens Collectors Club (CCGTCC.co) holds an annual convention every year in Las Vegas.
Here is the source link. http://www.kovels.com/latest-news/five-things-you-never-thought-to-collect.html?utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=http%3a%2f%2fwww.kovels.com%2flatest-news%2ffive-things-you-never-thought-to-collect.html&utm_campaign=Kovels+Komments%3a+Five+Things+You+Never+Thought+to+Collect
The Stardust Hotel and Casino was demolished in 2007, but the chip seems to sell for only a few dollars.
Another type of collectible mentioned in the above Kovels article is crown bottle caps. They say...
The first crown cork-lined bottle cap was patented in 1892. Most wanted today are cork-lined caps and caps from small breweries or brands that were not made in large quantities. Common bottle caps sell for 25 cents, while rare caps sell for hundreds of dollars. Collectors belong to the Crowncap Collectors Society International (BottleCapClub.org). American Breweriana Association has a beer brand Crown Cap Exchange where collectors donate caps and get some.
Of course caps found on salt water beaches are usually in very poor condition, but you can use them and other items diagnostically to help you evaluate a beach. Notice that the first crown cork-lined caps were patented in 1892. You can often get an idea of how old a beach dug cap is from its condition and style or graphics if any remain. Mostly only new caps will show graphics.
Here is a crown cap in unused rather than dug condition.
Many common items can provide clues to help diagnose a beach. You've found a few of those if you use a pulse detector. Do you know when bobby pins became popular?
I'll tell you below.
How about all-aluminum soft drink cans?
The first soft drinks to be sold in all-aluminium cans were R.C. Cola and Diet-Rite Cola, both made by the Royal Crown Cola company, in 1964.
The ring type pull tabs came first and then somebody got the idea of making the pull tabs that are supposed to remain attached to the can. You and I know that they often don't.
Those little rectangular tabs came out about 1980.
So you can use pull tabs to evaluate a beach. If you are detecting a back beach where the water hasn't been and you are finding ring tabs along with the newer stay tabs, the area probably hasn't been detected very well since back before 1980.
I use simple things like that a lot. Generally, I'd rather detect a beach where there are ring tabs. If junk like that remains after such a long time, most likely other things remain as well.
About the bobby pins, they became popular in the 1920s.
How about paper clips? They may be older than you think. The gem paper clip was introduced as far back as 1892.
Another tip from Kovels. The U.S. government passed the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906. It regulated so-called cures and remedies and the claims made for these products in ads and on packaging. Proof of a claim's accuracy was required. So it can be assumed that an American bottle with the word "cure" or "remedy" embossed on the side was probably made before 1906.
Those are some things you can use to evaluate a beach. I generally like to be in the oldest sand I can find unless I'm hunting modern jewelry, and even then there are times I prefer to get down into old sand if the area was popular over the years.
The junk you dig can tell you a lot about what went on at a beach in the past as well as how well it has been detected.
A Ponte Vedra wreck has been identified after being uncovered.
http://www.news4jax.com/news/ponte-vedra-schooner-wreck-identified/25174104
29 Byzantine gold coins like the one below were discovered in Luxor.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/97597/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Byzantineera-gold-coins-found-in-Luxor.aspx
 |
| Source: See link immediately above. |
The wind on the Treasure Coast is now out of the southeast and is fairly strong.
The surf is around four feet, but will be decreasing the next couple of days.
The tides are pretty big right now.
I'd expect some more clad and modern finds but not much in the way of older things.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
